JennyMorgan

I'm surprised that the local worthy actually knew what a toilet was. The term 'privy' might well have been known though. The 'long drop', as kids we used to count the seconds from 'nip-off' to the splash!

For generations Beccles, like Norwich, was a sea-port. Indeed up until the 1960's a Thames barge used to visit the town, presumably for agricultural produce. With this in mind, when the new bypass bridge was built, an agreement was drawn up to provide a mooring for trading craft next to the bridge. Whilst the agreement is remembered by some its existence has yet to be established.

The 'honey cart' on land was something of an institution in the countryside. But Norfolk has moved on, become civilised, folk are now connected to the main drain, unless they live in Potter's famous 'shed city', Mind you, a few liveaboards might have a problem. One, on Oulton Broad, has a floating tank that he disconnects from his houseboat then he tows it to a yard to be pumped out

Was a time, John, when I earned a good living as a freelancer. Then along came the 'vanity' writers and photographers and such as Archant took to paying reduced rates, or nothing at all. Too many hobby writers and photographers out there willing to sell their work for nothing other than for the joy of seeing it in print! Oh to be a 'staffer' again! Going freelance was not the brightest thing that I did in life although it was good for a few years, till the bubble burst!

I suppose that there are two types of readership, those whose lifestyle, experience and interests revolve around boating, and then there are those with dosh to spend who want to buy a boat but in all honesty never actually become down and out boaters. I suspect that the first group would be more inclined to buy magazines over an extended period whilst the others would only buy a few editions whilst the enthusiasm is still strong and their boat is still gleaming. My impression of Anglia Afloat was that it largely catered for the latter whilst it is the former that is most likely to buy monthly, but is probably less likely to be fodder for advertisers.

Re the licence, we had a licence for Suffolk & Norfolk back in the fifties at least, I was just so proud when I was old enough to buy one! I suppose it was about 1970ish when a national licence was produced. Charlie is just so right when he says times have changed in sixty years and how, as feral kids, we were out of the house from dawn to dusk. In my case if we weren't fishing then we were boating and if we weren't boating then we were fishing, with a spot of hunting thrown in for good measure. Such was the life of a rural kid back then. Outdoor kids, not so much now, even adults avoid the great outdoors nowadays! How often do I see boats with the cockpit covers up even on a bright, sunny summer's day, gosh, back in time the first thing we did was get the covers off.

http://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/other-sport/norfolk-angling/can_angling_ever_reverse_its_decline_in_participation_1_3873004 Interesting comment about the close season too! Mind you, 'tis asked by our favourite, locally based angling hack, Roy Webster!

Over opinionated, yes! Entertaining, yes! But at least he's not afraid to say what he thinks, even when it's not P.C. Surely cow-towing to the advertiser rather than being honest with the readership does nothing to convince a savvy readership. Granted that there are one or two gullible, inexperienced folk out there ready to part with their lottery wins and inheritances but editors shouldn't forget that there are other readers with a few more active brain cells! A magazine that is prepared to say how it really is would be welcome. One editor that I know of became quite infamous for demanding perks in return for favourable editorial, hardly creditable.

This time from the site of the modern day Yacht Station where it adjoins the park. This view shows the Broad in the early 1900's, maybe late 1890's. The field in the background is the site of the Maltings apartment block.

Another 'oldie' of Wroxham. The lady crew member needs a lesson in how to row!

Youngsters without mobile phones! Another Edwardian view of Oulton Broad:

Another old one of Wroxham, I think! But wait, is that the club's rescue dory I see over to the right? Dories have only been in the UK since about 1965/70, or have they?

Amen to that, Clive.

I'm sorry that this has not materialised for this year. Lessons learned on my part, namely that entries need to be full sized files in the first place. I should have picked up on this requirement earlier, sorry. My thanks to all those who showed an interest.

Well, 'tis actually the Bridge!

Possibly a little fanciful but nevertheless an attractive picture of the Waveney at Beccles:

I really do not think that every new built boat is absolutely and utterly flawless, but it was if you believed AA! A few Jeremy Clarkson style reviews wouldn't go amiss and would restore my faith in the boating press.

Like others I really don't want to read 'club reports' and 'news letters' nor untruthful boat reports. If a boat that I am considering buying has a less than attractive feature then I want to know about it, a boat report that glams up and glosses over the less attractive side of a boat is really valueless. AA boat reports were seemingly aimed to please the builder, not the purchaser. Conservation, restoration, Time Team style projects, long term user reports, boatyard profiles, mooring profiles, destination profiles AND no blo@dy fashion pages!

Bonzo, I rather suspect that that image is way out of copyright by now! Like you I found the bream. I'm not fanatically keen on all the paraphernalia of weighing every fish that I catch unless they are huge so I can only guess that I had fish up to six pounds so they were good, but not that . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . big!

Those of you know Oulton Broad will recognise the silhouette of the Old Maltings on what was for many years Truman's Boatyard. The sailing boats, Broads One Designs, have no sail numbers so I suspect the picture is pre-WWI.

http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/oulton_broad_missing_man_s_body_found_in_water_next_to_boats_moored_in_harbour_1_3681109 Just noted the date, Google News!!

Sorry, Ma'am!

The 'toffs' out on Wroxham Broad, early 1920's:

Such uncouth boaters on the Thames!

David, right click over the above image and save as a download. Once you have the downloaded image, once again, right click over the downloaded image and click on 'set as screen saver'. Hopefully I've got that right! Thanks for the picture.